10,000 walk at UMass Med to fight cancer

WORCESTER 
A lot of thoughts flash through your mind when you find out someone you love has cancer. One of them is, “What do I do now?”

Lori Frascolla of Sutton found something to do. She raised money and marched in yesterday’s UMass Medicine Cancer Walk.

“It gave me something that I could do that was positive and helpful,” said the first-time walker, whose mother is battling lung cancer.

“It’s important to raise money to eliminate cancer, to save lives,” said her father, Richard Burchell, of Framingham. “One of them could be my wife’s life.”

The father and daughter were among nearly 10,000 walkers in the 13th annual cancer walk at University of Massachusetts Medical School. The event raises money for cancer research and treatment.

Nancy Flynn of Spencer walked as a cancer survivor.

“I was diagnosed early, luckily, because of the care I got here,” she said, pointing to the hospital behind her, UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Doctors found cancer in Ms. Flynn’s kidney. The kidney was removed in 2004, and she has been cancer-free ever since.

Her sister, Barbara Walker of West Boylston, walked alongside her yesterday morning. Their mother is also a cancer survivor, the sisters said.

“We all need to do our part to raise money for research,” Ms. Walker said, “because cancer touches everybody.”

Organizers were still totaling donations yesterday afternoon. The fundraising goal for the walk this year was $800,000.

Walkers had a choice between a 1-mile route or a 5-mile route around Lake Quinsigamond. A few minutes before 10 a.m., after a “Stop Cancer Now!” chant, walkers began the course. They streamed through a balloon archway as Pop Warner cheerleaders cheered them on.

Also in Worcester yesterday, the Alzheimer’s Association’s Massachusetts and New Hampshire chapter held a fundraiser walk at Quinsigamond Community College. An estimated 3,000 people participated in the 3-mile walk.

Christine M. Brown, development and outreach officer for the association, said walkers likely exceeded the $200,000 fundraising goal. The money helps fund, among other things, the association’s help line, support groups and educational programs.

The cancer walk at UMass Medical School is in its 13th year. In the past, it was called the Walk to Cure Cancer. The name was changed this year to the UMass Medicine Cancer Walk. According to an explanation on the event website, the name was changed because the phrase “cure cancer” has become widely used and “may mislead donors into giving toward an organization other than the one they intend to support.”

For the first time, walkers were charged a $10 registration fee this year. Mark L. Shelton, spokesman for UMass Medical School, said there’s no indication the fee affected participation, though the number of walkers dropped from about 14,000 last year to about 10,000 this year.

The walk started two hours earlier this year, which may have affected participation.

Mr. Shelton said organizers were happy with the turnout. Some people donate to the cause but don’t walk, he added.

Money raised through the cancer walk goes to labs researching cancer, as well as clinical trials for treatments.

Brian Lewis, associate professor in the gene function and expression program at UMass Medical School, is hoping his lab will win a piece of the funding. Mr. Lewis is studying a gene mutation that occurs in patients with pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly cancers.

The goal is to understand how the gene mutation occurs — “That’s where you target the treatment,” Mr. Lewis said in an interview last week.

“We have a standard of care for pancreatic cancer, but it is by no means a curative standard of care,” he said. “We need to be able to test new therapeutics, and multiple clinical trials cost a lot of money.”

Like many of the walkers, Jeanne Frowein of Dudley had only good things to say about the medical school and the hospital that shares its campus, because she was treated there. Ms. Frowein is a breast cancer survivor.

Over the years, many of her friends and family members were diagnosed with cancer. Some of them survived, some didn’t.

“I walk for somebody different each year,” the 11-time walker said.

This year, she was walking in memory of her nephew, Jeremy, who died from a rare form of cancer six years ago when he was a toddler.

Just weeks ago, her sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. “Next year,” Ms. Frowein said, “we will walk for her as a survivor.”